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Review
. 2022 Sep 28;23(19):11433.
doi: 10.3390/ijms231911433.

Antiviral Peptides as Anti-Influenza Agents

Mariangela Agamennone  1 , Marialuigia Fantacuzzi  1 , Giovanni Vivenzio  2 , Maria Carmina Scala  2 , Pietro Campiglia  2 , Fabiana Superti  3 , Marina Sala  2
Affiliations
Review

Antiviral Peptides as Anti-Influenza Agents

Mariangela Agamennone et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Influenza viruses represent a leading cause of high morbidity and mortality worldwide. Approaches for fighting flu are seasonal vaccines and some antiviral drugs. The development of the seasonal flu vaccine requires a great deal of effort, as careful studies are needed to select the strains to be included in each year's vaccine. Antiviral drugs available against Influenza virus infections have certain limitations due to the increased resistance rate and negative side effects. The highly mutative nature of these viruses leads to the emergence of new antigenic variants, against which the urgent development of new approaches for antiviral therapy is needed. Among these approaches, one of the emerging new fields of "peptide-based therapies" against Influenza viruses is being explored and looks promising. This review describes the recent findings on the antiviral activity, mechanism of action and therapeutic capability of antiviral peptides that bind HA, NA, PB1, and M2 as a means of countering Influenza virus infection.

Keywords: Influenza A virus; amphiphilic peptides; drugs; fusion peptide; hemagglutinin; neuraminidase; peptides.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Electron micrograph of IAV particles.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic diagram of IAV particle showing viral components.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(A) Phylogenetic tree and (B) structure of hemagglutinin.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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